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Wallabies 2023

stillmissit

stillmissit

Peter Johnson (47)
Bandar said:
:rolleyes: Have you ever been out of Bondi???

You certainly like to make massive generalisations that are very wrong.

Most kids in country play both league & union and where I am in the Riverina also a bit of AFL. In much of the Central West, where he is from (Orange, Cowra, Forbes) Union would be the stronger code.
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I have a farmer mate who lives in Northern NSW and his local club, which was very strong, is now struggling to get players but League is doing well out there.
 
The Ghost of Raelene

The Ghost of Raelene

Simon Poidevin (60)
stillmissit said:
I was involved with Penrith in the early 2000's and it's a bit more nuanced than that. I think NSW and Aust Rugby would have liked to do more but the money that was given was pissed up against the wall. There were a bunch of guys who put in lots of work for Penrith, John Pinson and his wife being outstanding along with some coaches and a few others. One big problem was the shortage of volunteers which every rugby club needs.
One of the problems in my time was the club had a very good bunch of colts coming through but they were getting a towelling from Uni and Randwick and both clubs were picking up the good players from that team. Then the club decided to take on an islander group as colts to hopefully attract more islander boys to the club. Didn't work, most guys out there expect to be paid and move on if they can't be.
There was more to it than this but even I am getting bored writing this. There was a large number of local schools playing rugby and that is now a handful. Subbies are still doing OK.
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I know there are many people in these Rugby Communities going above and beyond to provide a place to play, but IMO RA and NSWRU have not done enough for a prolonged amount of time to properly support them. I remember seeing Israel Folau list his Club as Sydney Uni and thinking wtf does that achieve. Is he going to play a Club game... No. Tell him he's going to be listed as a Two Blue of Emu and use his brand (at the time) for what it may be worth.

Credit to a guy like Polotu Nau who use to go put money behind the bar at the Two Blues and get behind them at any chance he got.

As for Subbies, who knows. I have a feeling it's dying a slow and very painful death due to many factors outside of Rugby's control.
 
Marce

Marce

John Hipwell (52)
Bandar said:
Western Sydney is very different from small country towns (not that Dubbo is small)
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Every town, every neighborhood, every street I walked in NSW was a League territory. Even in rugby heartland like Manly where I also lived. I spent more time in Manly than any other place, I know every corner and there are more League supporters than Union.

For some reason Brookvale Oval refused to received Waratahs games this season

www.google.com

Waratahs to call Leichhardt Oval home after Brookvale refusal

The NSW Waratahs will play the bulk of their home games at Leichhardt Oval after Brookvale Oval knocked back the opportunity to host games. Meanwhile, the Super Rugby Pacific fixture has had its third reshuffle.
www.google.com www.google.com
 
stillmissit

stillmissit

Peter Johnson (47)
I remember seeing Israel Folau list his Club as Sydney Uni and thinking wtf does that achieve. Is he going to play a Club game... No. Tell him he's going to be listed as a Two Blue of Emu and use his brand (at the time) for what it may be worth.

Credit to a guy like Polotu Nau who use to go put money behind the bar at the Two Blues and get behind them at any chance he got.

I agree with both these statements, but the problem for NSW and Australian rugby was 'what are we building on?'. I can give you an example of how different the attitudes were at that time. The training room? had water running out of a cupboard under a sink and I asked why don't we fix it? I was told 'We can't afford a plumber', I opened it up and had a look under it and the waste pipe had come loose, I tightened it up and it was fixed.

One of the sponsors told me they would not put in any more cash into the club and would only support what was not cash. He said he got sick of going to management meetings where they would argue over trivialities like who was going to supply the oranges.

BTW Peter Fenton was another guy who put a massive effort into the Emus.
 
stillmissit

stillmissit

Peter Johnson (47)
Marce said:
Every town, every neighborhood, every street I walked in NSW was a League territory. Even in rugby heartland like Manly where I also lived. I spent more time in Manly than any other place, I know every corner and there are more League supporters than Union.

For some reason Brookvale Oval refused to received Waratahs games this season

www.google.com

Waratahs to call Leichhardt Oval home after Brookvale refusal

The NSW Waratahs will play the bulk of their home games at Leichhardt Oval after Brookvale Oval knocked back the opportunity to host games. Meanwhile, the Super Rugby Pacific fixture has had its third reshuffle.
www.google.com www.google.com
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They did better at Leichardt
 
Viking

Viking

Mark Ella (57)
footy1>31 said:
Selwyn Cobbo would be/is a star and is the perfect age. David Fifita would play 100 games at 12/13.

Anyone not thinking that paying the dollars to get the NRL guns across is kidding themselves. I don't think this should be controversial but Aus Rugby with full access to pre-existing NRL stars (not even thinking about changing pathways) would clean sweep Olympic 7s Gold/Bledisloe/World Cup and it wouldn't be close.
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Fifita struggled when moved to Centre in League (trying to replicate Talakai), he was a defensive liability. He would be turned around and caught out so easily in union. Definitely needs to be in the forwards 6/8.

Love the rest of your backline, tommy turbo (if he can kick) would be amazing at 15!
 
dru

dru

David Wilson (68)
PhilClinton said:
The guys being discussed would likely go on to have 2 RWC cycles worth of Wallaby careers. I think that is an investment worth the money.

The short term goal for Rugby Australia should be investing in resources which will bring us a RWC victory at home in 2027, guys like Burton and Sua'ali'i fit that bill I reckon.
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As I said, Phil, I'm not anti the "top down" approach. Just not at the expense of bottom up building. Easily takes priority. Let's build say 8 domestic pro teams with a roughly equal playing field of talent, that are dialled in to their lower supporting tiers and with those tiers neatly meshed into the drive toward quality representation in the pro comp. If there is enough after that to buy bling, fine. In the mean time spend wisely.

At the Wallabies, there needs to be a buy-in from the HC as to what RA is trying to do. No more of this "we need to play NZ in club for the Wallabies to be competitive" crap. The coach needs to buy in to the process. And rugby league heroes chasing money only work if all the rest is frost and foremost resolved. IF they want to represent their nation in an actual international sport, then they have a few sacrifices to make. If they are chasing $ then the money is only available of the money is available.
 
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The_Brown_Hornet

The_Brown_Hornet

John Eales (66)
I know people will complain about Samu playing in the 7's but realistically this could have happened in any game. Has Rennie walked under any ladders or assaulted a black cat? The injury toll has been horrific this year.
 
Marce

Marce

John Hipwell (52)
Jimmy_Crouch said:
No issues for Arnold to be selected now
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Can he play at 12? A lot of depth in the second row, home and overseas but you don't have nothing similar to Kerevi.

Even the ABs don't have a Kerevi. I read a lot of Keewees complain cause Laumape was mistreated by NZRU, someone who is similar to Samu. Laumape is a good player but even him hasn't played at the level of Samu at international test. Yeah, he had has less opportunities too but everybody aprecciates the value of a big ball carrier at the centre
 
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